


Post Mortem

by MissGuided12



Category: The Last Kingdom (TV)
Genre: Aethelrik
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-12
Updated: 2021-02-15
Packaged: 2021-03-12 14:27:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 1,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29386260
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissGuided12/pseuds/MissGuided12
Summary: An account of Erik and Aethelflaed's time in Beamfleot, from different perspectives, written as a train of thought.
Relationships: Aethelflaed Lady of Mercia/Erik Thurgilson, Erik Thurgilson & Sigefrid Thurgilson
Comments: 29
Kudos: 5





	1. For Her

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "A project post-mortem is a process used to identify the causes of a project failure (or significant business-impairing downtime), and how to prevent them in the future."
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postmortem_documentation

He’d died for her. 

He’d hoped to escape with her, but found death at the hand of his brother.

Whom he loved and yet betrayed, because he chose her.

He’d given up enough, compromised enough. 

He could not let her go. 

So they’d summoned help, and help came, but death came too.

Help he’d begged for, despite his past, despite his guilt.

Help he did not dare to hope for, but which he still received.

He’d done some bad stuff. Taken land, taken lives, claimed what wasn’t his. 

He’d grown strong and powerful and callous, and men followed them, him and his brother.

Along the way, he’d lost track of who he’d been. He’d lost his heart. 

Until he saw her for who she really was, and realized the extent of his wrong. 

She let him love her, and he could not believe fate had granted him such a chance. 

He could not let her go.

She’d been bargained like cattle, by his brother, by her people. They’d agreed on a humiliating price.

She’d kept her head high. Never let them break her.

He saw her strength and her naked skin and his heart melted. Though he yielded the power, he felt he had none. 

He’d burst with anger at the threat of men on her dignity. Burned some bridges and turned allies into enemies.

He did not care. 

He’d dreamed of the wealth she’d bring them. Little did he know she’d bring him something entirely different. A chance for redemption. Hope for a fresh start. 

He’d brought her on his horse, against her will. 

He’d slaughtered her people and cheered. 

He’d kidnapped her. It was his idea.


	2. From Him

She’d birthed his child, the man she’d chosen, and passed it as her husband’s whom she hated.

She’d escaped a place of danger, against all hopes, crushed by grief.

She’d slaughtered her demons. 

She’d been a girl, a wife, a hostage. 

But she grabbed a sword and reclaimed her queenly power.

Her lover died. His child lived, and so she did, too. For them both.

She dangled from a cage, and men laughed.

A girl gave up her life for her. She never found out her name.

She’d schemed and hoped and dreamed. With him. 

She would not be sold for a price that would bring her kingdom to its knees. 

She chose his love instead. 

He’d seen her for who she could become and loved her for it. 

She’d loved him despite his past, despite his crimes. 

She saw his heart and ignored the rest, and he kept her safe. 

She’d been threatened, used, violated, diminished. 

But she refused to see it their way. They would not break her.

He’d killed her companions and chased her in the forest. 

Yet he helped her discover her own worth.

And thought fate threw her forward without him, she remembered.


	3. Without Him

It would be today. He was ready. 

He’d meet his brother, in Odin’s great hall, and give him a piece of his mind. 

For ripping his heart out. 

He thought he knew pain. Constant throbbing pain. Boy was he wrong. 

This was like dying a thousand deaths, without the relief of death.

He’d meant to protect the fool. To keep him focused. 

Until the blood rushed back from his stupid cock.

He knew him to be weak in the heart. Always had been. But he never expected betrayal.

He’d been his hero, his guide, his mentor. His everything. 

He’d taught him to row and taught him to fight, and led him on a glorious path.

A path of blood and conquest, of glory and riches and reputation. 

He needed his mind, that’s true. 

His own mind had too little patience for plans. His brother’s were crafty and bold. 

He needed his love, too. Without him, what was there left to love?

Stupid love. He’d thrown it all out. For love. 

A slew of kingdoms, a kinship like no others. For a pair of tits. 

His brother had killed them both, he knew. 

He was a walking dead man. A wounded, raging dead man.

So it would be today. And it would be glorious.


	4. Under Him

To glory or Valhalla. In time.

Let the fools fight their own battles.

For this was not his fight.

Stay back. There’ll be plenty of crumbs left for those who wish to live.

Why avenge a man who'd placed a hostage over his pride?

Who spat on years of loyal service for a few glances and a quick hump?

Tonight, he would sleep in that man's bed, and think of his woman, afraid and alone and under him. 

One could always dream?

Dream and live. That was the real glory.

Let the fools fight each other. 

The living would rise.


	5. Enjoy Her

She had diminished him. 

He could smell him on her smug face. 

That belly. That sin. A Danish pup! 

My dear, couldn’t you have crossed you legs harder while we scrapped the land for silver?

At least they'd kept the silver. 

That shrill voice. Did she scream while he enjoyed her? 

Enjoy her! What was there to enjoy?!

Wessex’s pride. On her belly. Whimpering for daddy. A sad price.

Most content, the man said. My lord sees that she is most content.

Content like his fist grabbing her hair, pushing her head down, teaching her her place. 

She still hadn’t learned her place.

But she would. 

Or she wouldn’t. There were other ways.


	6. Sworn to Him

It would have been funny, if it weren't so sad. 

The bastard still did not trust him.

Never had, never would. 

He'd sworn him his sword. He’d won his battles. 

He’d made the grass red with the blood of his enemies.

He'd saved his crown when he was a frog king. 

He was made a slave by his Northern puppet. 

He'd lost good men fighting his wars. Friends. His woman, too.

He'd saved his daughter. He'd saved his silver. He'd saved his crown. Again.

And still he doubted. His god and his priests and his ugly wife whispered poison into his hear.

It was laughable.

He was bound to the King of Wessex. Who hated him.

Sure, he preferred the Danes. 

Sure, he looked like a Dane. He prayed like one. He humped like one. 

But he'd given his word. 

It was that simple.

You make oaths. You honour them. You die. 

It was that simple.


	7. Praise Him

God was merciful

She’d been returned, against all odds, in strange circumstances

Tainted, that’s true, but she’d been returned, and war was averted

The kingdom lived, the crown still on his head 

God had spared him from committing the ultimate sin

For he would have sacrificed them all for her sake

He would have bled them all dry of their wealth, and given it to the wolves 

Paid the full price for their destruction

For her

Because he was weak

The Lord had tested his will, and he knew he’d failed 

He’d been a father, not a king

The ultimate sin 

So he prayed on his knees and asked for strength 

He searched his own heart for enough clemency to forgive himself

But he only found contempt


	8. Serve Him

Where is she?!! He’d screamed like a mad man

As if it was his fault the man’s mind went mush 

As if he’d caused his own brother’s wrath 

As if he’d been the one thinking with his cock

Sworn to obey, never to question

Sworn to serve. Sworn to secrecy. Sworn to look the other way

She is precious. She has value. You will all turn away

Until she was his to claim, and loyalties spun in the win

Then it was anyone’s bet how the dies may roll

But sworn men never questioned, did they?


	9. Worship Him

What an immense relief

The living, breathing heart of a mourning kingdom had miraculously been saved

The lord had answered his children’s desperate cries

As she embraced her returning child, she was struck by the infinity of his mighty power

He had worked in mysterious ways, she thought

But who was she to question him?

In his endless wisdom, the lord had inspired heathens to turn against their own kind

They had been touched by his light, become his sacred instrument

Her nation, under the lord’s true king, was saved

A dutiful daughter brought back to her father, an obedient wife to her husband

She wept on her knees, the tears of a mother

But for the first time in months, hers were tears of awe, not grief


	10. Peace for Him

He would die dishonoured from the realm of men, but at peace with his own heart

His lord, his friend, had faltered 

But he, himself, had stood strong in his stead

He had led a righteous life

Never compromised, never weakened

Never lost track of his sacred duty to the desperate folks who toiled the land

He’d sacrificed his own flesh for a greater purpose

For he understood that life was bigger than himself

And now he saw no path forward, so he would rest

Knowing he’d done them right 

Just one last push of unbending courage, and well-deserved peace would come


End file.
